ABA Online Bird Photo Quiz 34

Answer

Well, we waited until the 34th photo quiz to introduce our first gull. And given the number of correct responses, apparently we chose one that wasn't exceptionally difficult.

When dealing with a gull, the first thing to do is to age it. When taken in concert, the extensively brownish colored underwing, dirty underparts, patterned undertail coverts, black tail band and uniformly black bill suggest that we are dealing with a first-cycle bird. Perhaps some birds just entering their second cycle-birds could retain this all dark bill and have a similar plumage (but at least from this angle we see no hint of second-cycle feathers, indeed it appears as thought the bird may still be entirely in juvenal plumage).

At this point, size and structure become important clues. Since there are no birds for comparison, it's hard to judge for certain, but the bird seems large. Less subjective, is the large bill that expands at the gonys. This may call to mind a very large Herring Gull, Western Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, and Kelp Gull.

The other striking feature about this individual is the distal tail band, which is narrow compared to what one would expect with North American Herring Gulls, Western Gull and Kelp Gull. This pattern is typical of what one would expect on a first-cycle Great Black-backed Gull. The fairly white head and underparts with relatively sparse mottling and streaking are also typical of Great Black-backed Gull.

This first-cycle Great Black-backed Gull was photographed by the author at Massachusetts in late December 2005.

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The following people (listed by submission date beginning with the earliest) submitted correct answers for the January Bird Photo Quiz—Great Black-backed Gull:

Steven Mitten, Belize City, Belize

Stephanie Smith, Lansing, MI

Mark Brown, Dalmatia, Pa

crystal malick, dalmtia,pa

Jason Waanders, Washington, DC

Thomas Lally, Chicago, IL

Maggie MacPherson, Guelph, ON

Mike Boyd, Oakville, Ontario

Cathy Carroll, Dearborn, Michigan

Ben Coulter, Erie, PA

Richard Hibpshman, Issaquah, WA

Kyle Horner, Guelph, Ontario

Stephen Joly, Kamloops, BC

Macy Brown, Leander, TX

Marcel Gauthier, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC, Canada

Seabrooke, Toronto, Ontario

Justin Bosler, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Mary Covello, Bolton CT

Mark Chao, Ithaca, NY

rob young, alexandria, VA

John Bissell, Grimes, Iowa

Chad Heins, Mankato, MN

Jay McEntee, Berkeley, CA

Enrique Zamora, Ensenada, Baja California

Sherry Punak-Murphy, Shilo, Manitoba, Canada

Marg Partridge, wilson, NY

Chantel Melgarejo, Laurel Hollow, NY

jerome wood, Huntington NY

Kelly Solinger, Syosset, New York

Bill Maynard, Colorado Springs, CO

Philip Kline, Tucson, AZ

Nathan Swick, Chapel Hill, NC

Will Richardson, Truckee, CA

Christiana Wood, Suitland, Maryland

Colin Gjervold, St Petersburg, FL

Ben Young, Salem, OR

Rob Fowler, Arcata, CA

Ben Meadors, North Little Rock, AR

Marcelo Brongo, Barcelona, Spain

Christopher Colby, York, PA

Jason Beason, Paonia, CO

Lee Barnes, Seattle, WA

Alex Lin-Moore, Houston, TX

Hannah Kistler, Newton Falls, OH

Richard Garrigues, San Antonio de Belen, Heredia, Costa Rica

Janice St.Jean, Chepachet, RI

Shaun Hicks, Morrisville, PA

Matthew Williams, Provo, UT

Bruce Dugger, Albany, OR

Marc Ribaudo, Woodgridge, VA

Kevin M. Kincaid, Indianapolis, IN

Kevin Hill, Seattle, WA

Patrick Dockens, Mesa, Arizona

Lauren Franko, Piscataway, NJ

Matt Baumann, Abq,NM

Laurence Schorsch, Evanston, IL

Mary Chambers, Davis, CA

kai reed, putney VT.

Marcia Huff, Holland, MI

Carrie Braden, Portage la Prairie, MB

Barb Duncan, Jefferson City, MO

J E Duncan, Boyce, LA

Michael S. Levy, Centereach, N.Y.

Clive Bramham, Bergen, Norway

Luke Seitz, Falmouth, Maine

Matt Pike, Lacey WA

Tony Leukering, Brighton, CO

Alan J. Knue, Seattle, WA

Alex Vinokur, Casselberry, FL

George Cresswell, Colorado Springs, CO

José Luis Copete, Barcelona, Spain

Jack Gibbons, Galena, IL

Barb Robertson, Ottawa, Onario, Canada

Ben Walters, Port Hope, Ontario

Jeremy Faucher, Enfield Ct

Steve Hampton, Davis, CA

Nick Anich, Ashland, WI

katherine Raspet, brooklyn, ny

Graham Etherington, Norwich, UK

Johanna Wielfaert, East Lansing, MI

Casey Tucker, Columbus, OH

Aaron Boone, Columbus, Ohio

Zack Barrow, McDonald, TN

Andy Bankert, Melbourne Beach, FL

nell haberman, portland, Oregon

Wes Serafin, orland park ,il

Pierre Goulet, Wolfville, NS

Nels F. Thompson, Owatonna, MN

Arun Bose, Richmond, VA

Ed Harper, Sacramento, CA 95841

Tom Benson, San Bernardino, CA

Ann Mcdonald, Calgary, Alberta

Brian Ahern, Tampa, FL.

Sarah DeViney, Jonesboro, AR

Monte, Tustin, CA

Tim Kalbach, Lexington, SC

Cynthia Taylor, Tucson, AZ

Melissa Hein, North Branch, MN

Bill Schmoker, Longmont, Colorado

Joan Campbell, Marinette, WI 54143

Claire Curry, Greenwood, Texas

Travis A. Mahan, Decatur, IL

Jeff Hole, Orlando, FL

Stephen Seiffert, Lansdowne, Ontario Canada

Andrew Keaveney, Guelph, ON, Canada

Jim Hulsey, Henderson, NV

Roxanne Clark, Eugene, OR

Manolo Mondejar, Taos,NM

Kevin Welsh, Novi, Michigan

Orrin Harvey, Tucson, AZ

Jared Caster, Fulton NY

Chase Choate, Wellpinit, WA

Seth Cutright, West Bend, WI

Petro Pynnönen, Helsinki, Finland

Robert Mottershead, Philadelphia, PA

Sam Galick, Flemington, NJ

David Hollie, Ringgold, GA

Jason McGuire, London, ON

Roberto Cavalieros, Brooklyn, NY

Francisco Martinez, Chicago, IL

Kevin Kerr, Guelph, Ont

Matthew Schneider, Silverton, OR

Ben Wechsler, Snow Hill, Maryland

Ethan Kistler, Newton Falls, Ohio

Sandra Keller, Barrington, NJ

Michael Woodruff, Spokane, WA

Mike Burrell, Heidelberg, Ontario

Phillip J. Kenny, Vienna, VA

Andrew Sigerson, Sussex, NJ

Myles Falconer, Peterborough, Ontario

Sandra Lautrup, Effingham, Illinois

Karl E. Mayer, Saint Clair Shores, Michigan

Nicolas Halle, St-Nicolas,Quebec,Canada

Gabe Johnson, Cherry Hill, NJ

Seth Miller, Petaluma, CA

David C. Smith, Owings Mills, MD

Rob Poniatowski, Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan

David M Elwonger, Colorado Springs CO

Greg Zupansic, Eugene, Oregon

Rich Swartzentruber, Salem, Oregon

Dan williams, Roseville, CA

Karen Rubinstein, New York, NY

Jacque Riese, Lincoln, NE

Bryan Patrick, Woodland Park, CO

James P. Smith, Amherst, MA

Jim Gilbert, Bernardsville, NJ

Francesc Jutglar, Cardedeu, Catalonia

Robert Lengacher, Tallahassee, FL

Harry Hooper, Tallahassee, Florida

John Keagle, Hickory Corners, MI

Carol Perry, Las Vegas, NV

Marcus Mundall, Williamsport, MD

Susannah Lerman, Amherst, MA

Suzanne Feustel, Babylon, New York

Lori Fujimoto, Colorado Springs, CO

Elise Becker, Colorado Springs, CO

Michael Mayer, Flushing, NY

James McKay, Mesa, AZ

Gary Bird, Maxeys, GA

Robert Doster, Albuquerque, NM

Corey Plank, Portland, OR

Blue Rubinstein, New York, NY

Charles Carlson, Ft. Peck MT

James Lerner, Huntington, New York

Steve Matthews, Cold Spring Harbor, NY

Joe LoCicero, Huntington, New York

Blake Mathys, New Brunswick, NJ

Tim Hochstetler, Millersburg, OH

Jim Kopitzke, Mesa AZ

Liis Veelma, Winnipeg, MB

Geoffrey A. Williamson, Chicago, IL

Matt Anthony, Bel Air, MD

Joel Mundall, Loma Linda, CA

Craig Bateman, Novi, MI

Dave Magpiong, Bellmawr, NJ

Kyle Carlsen, Vincent, OH

Glenn Werner, Beaufort S.C.

Yves Gauthier, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Eddie Mundall, Klamath Falls, OR

Laurina Mundall, Klamath Falls, OR

How Did You Compare?

As stated in the quiz rules, answers must consist simply of the Common or English name exactly as it appears in the ABA Checklist.

The following list shows the number of submissions for each species guessed.